10 Ways to Know You Are an Indianapolis Colts Fan

Whether you live in downtown Indianapolis or anywhere else on the planet, there's a few ways you can tell if you're a true diehard fan of the Indianapolis Colts.

Other than the 2011 season, the Colts have enjoyed continuous success for the past decade and a half, and fans have become very attached to this football team.

How can you tell if you're a huge Colts fan? There are a number of ways to tell, particularly since the Peyton Manning era. Whether it's some memorable moments over the past few years or just doing some pretty crazy things, there are definitely ways you stand out from normal NFL fans.

Some of Your Favorite Players Have Been on Special Teams

There have been a number of memorable punters and kickers on this team, but the last two at each position have been big fan favorites, even if only for a time.

Hunter Smith was a very popular punter around town even if only because he almost never punted. Now, he has his own band called the, you guessed it, Hunter Smith Band.

Even if he is now known as "Vandershank", Mike Vanderjagt was a pretty popular kicker by NFL standards.

Perhaps one of the more popular Colts players period right now is Pat McAfee. He's perhaps more popular thanks to his Twitter presence than anything else, but the "Boomstick" has become a household name.

Adam Vinatieri has taken over as the team's kicker, and despite playing for the New England Patriots, fans have accepted him as one of their own. Winning a Super Bowl certainly didn't hurt his popularity with Colts fans.

You Have a Burning Hatred for the New England Patriots

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Do you instinctively start booing at your computer when you see a picture of Tom Brady?

That's a pretty good sign that you bleed blue and white.

The 2006 AFC Championship Game is something Colts fans will never forget. Not only were they able to finally make it to the Super Bowl, they were able to do it by defeating their hated rivals at home in one of the craziest games in recent memory.

Even if the rivalry no longer includes Peyton Manning, the two teams still go at it every time that they are on the field, and fans still root against the Patriots even when the Colts aren't playing them.

You Understand the "Down by Contact" Rule

Other than Manning, Harrison is probably remembered as the best Colts player out of Indianapolis of all time. His career was filled with amazing plays and catches, and more than a few touchdowns from No. 18.

Still, this was a big one, and it taught a lot of younger fans to always touch the guy that fell down with the ball.

You Love Calling Audibles at the Office for No Reason

One of the greatest offenses of the modern era of football featured some of the strangest pre-snap adjustments I've ever heard. If you watch the video, you will hear so many random words put together that you would think Manning and Tom Moore just came up with random things to yell out in their free time.

Still, it worked, and the offense was one of the more entertaining things to watch in sports during the 2000s.

Seeing a Wide Receiver over 6 Feet Tall Throws You off

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

If there's one thing that the big names at wide receiver have had in common over the past decade or two, it's been that they've all be pretty short.

Harrison, Wayne, T.Y. Hilton, Brandon Stokley and even Bill Brooks weren't the tallest guys at the position. Instead, they've been known thanks to their solid hands or their explosiveness and big-play potential.

The Colts did bring in a guy named Jeremy Kelley this season listed at 6'6'', and it's been one of the big talking points out of practices.

For now, however, fans are used to just seeing these shorter guys run around the field.

You Dress Like This for Games

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Now that is a diehard fan.

Even from the days of the RCA Dome, fans remember seeing some of the coolest outfits either on TV or at the games. The Colts Stormtrooper used to be one of my personal favorites as a kid. There is also always the guy with the painted head along with a number of crazy other things at games.

There's still a few months before the regular season starts, so you have plenty of time to try to one-up these guys at the start of the 2013 season.

You Shaved Your Head for ChuckStrong

The news regarding Chuck Pagano at the beginning of last season could have very well deflated this team, but the ChuckStrong movement turned the entire situation around.

If you lived in the Indianapolis area during the time, you understood the overwhelming level of support for Chuck and how not only the team, but the entire city came together for one person.

Megan, the Colts cheerleader who helped raise money for leukemia research, shaved her head after they were able to raise a substantial amount of money. Still, she wasn't alone, as a fellow cheerleader along with the majority of the team shaved their heads in support.

It was certainly an emotional time in Indianapolis, but it was a season that many will never forget.